


the stars, they cannot compare

by idleteen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mindless Fluff, Niall Horan - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Zayn Malik - Freeform, basically a collection of ramblings and shitty metaphors, there's a tag called tooth-rotting fluff so yeah i'm going to use it, ziall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-12
Updated: 2013-06-12
Packaged: 2017-12-14 17:36:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/839551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idleteen/pseuds/idleteen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Define adventure.”</p>
<p>Niall looks up at the sky and then back down to his feet. “Anything new is an adventure...finding some place unfamiliar...taking an off-track path to get there...getting to know a stranger along the way.”</p>
<p>"And here I thought we were looking for treasure."</p>
            </blockquote>





	the stars, they cannot compare

**Author's Note:**

> Useless, entirely useless and fluffy as hell.

Zayn is certain that England attracts the rain like the positive end of a magnet does the negative. He figures it’s a proven fact that those grey clouds congregated overhead have taken permanent residence above the nation; a collection of miserable dark puffs, constantly promising the inevitable. Now, he loves England. If anyone ever questioned his complete and utter devotion to his country, he’d argue until his dying day.

This being said, however, Zayn has an appreciation for the sun. He enjoys the way the warmth settles over him, soaking into his tan skin like a hot bath, comforting him, even when the wind is still harsh. He likes the sun, and he likes the way it settles over his family’s summer home on the coast of someplace warm alongside some ocean Zayn cannot put a name to when he’s sitting on the beach. Everything just fades away when he’s sitting there; everything but the warmth and the smooth sound of crashing waves somewhere down the coast. Even the giggles of his little sisters down the beach seem to drift off with the wind, not that he’d be bothered if they stayed.

Zayn sits there for a long time, more or less in solitude, until one of his sisters pounces on his shoulders, startling him. She laughs at his reaction before informing him that dinner is ready and that his mum is not going to wait for him forever, and neither is she because she’s practically withering away from starvation. Zayn rolls his eyes before following her inside, but not before catching one last ray of the bright stranger in the sky. In the midst of his worshipping—was it the Mayans who built shrines to the sun?—he hears an unfamiliar voice.

“Don’t fall asleep,” it says, distinctly Irish.

Zayn opens his eyes, which had somehow fallen shut, and follows the sound. Out of nowhere, it seems, a blonde lad about the same age as himself has appeared. His skin is pale, but red and freckly on his shoulders and nose where the sun has gone to work, a bit on the tips of his ears as well. He’s got bright blue eyes that stand out comically against the red and are staring with genuine intrigue; wide and innocent and wondering.

“I fell asleep on the beach earlier today,” he explains with a shrug. Then, motioning to his shoulders, chest, and nose, “Got a little sunburnt.”

“Oh,” Zayn scratches the back of his head, thinking of something witty to reply with. The raven-haired boy has never been good at wit though, or socializing for that matter. He’s more of the quiet type; the contently socially awkward type.

The boy smiles though, satisfied with his muffled answer, and Zayn can’t help but notice how pretty that smile is. “Anyway, I’ll let you get back to it,” he says, his smile widening—if that’s even possible—before walking away.

Zayn watches the blonde boy disappear into the heat of the air and sand of the beach, wondering who he is, exactly. He’s been coming here with his family for years now, never once laying eyes on the boy. Zayn wonders what else he’s missed.

+

The sun doesn’t disappoint the following morning. There it is, as was promised, hovering in the early-morning sky with no other purpose than to lazily roam about and warm the vast body of water and smooth stripe of sand. Zayn envies the enormous star, on occasion; envies its inevitability. Every day, it follows the same suit; there are no surprises, no setbacks, just a simple existence until life finally ends, and it has no regrets because it’s carried out life just as it was created to.

There’s something to envy, Zayn thinks, about that lack of regret...he wishes his existence could be so simple. But then he considers the fact that the sun is massive and incredible, and that it is the heart of the solar system. Jupiter, Venus, Mars...all of them are suspended in its gravitational pull, set to circle and circle around the magnificent ball of light in the middle...and Zayn realizes that he’s nothing like the sun. He can envy it all he wants, but he’ll never come close to being that extraordinary. He’s more like the moon; dull without the brilliance of something brighter.

There’s a knock at the door then, as Zayn sits at the breakfast nook—having slept through his family’s departure for breakfast—and he walks to answer it. Through the screen, he catches sight of the same boy from last night, wearing the same bright smile, and puncturing Zayn with the same blue eyes.

“Hi,” he says when the raven-haired boy gets the door open.

“Um, hi,” Zayn responds, smiling himself.

The boy grins like he understands something about Zayn that Zayn doesn’t understand himself, before looking out towards the shore. “I’m going to take you there today.”

“The beach?”

The blonde laughs, “No...well, yes, but I mean up there.” He points again and this time Zayn sees what he’s talking about. There’s a little cliff that hangs over the water, quite a ways down. He’s not sure how long it will take to get there, or why they’re going at all...

“Oh,” Zayn mumbles after a long minute, “Um, why?”

The blonde smiles again, “We’re going on an adventure.”

“We are?”

“Yes. Now stop asking questions, you’re ruining the surprise of it.”

“Um, alright,” Zayn answers, feeling like there’s no other option than to agree. He’s confused though...extremely confused, but slips his shoes on nonetheless and follows the stranger out the door.

+

Zayn doesn’t think he enjoys his cigarette in the sun as much as he does in the rain. There’s something about the warm smoke flooding his throat and lungs in a dark, rainy alley that is comforting to him. Here in the sun, however, it just doesn’t have the same affect. Of course, he still craves the bloody thing like mad...it’s just a different experience...a new one that he spends too much time thinking about.

The blonde boy watches him carefully, shamelessly, like a curious child trying to figure things out. “I’m Niall,” he says, finally speaking after too much silence.

“Hi Niall,” Zayn says, finally flicking away his cigarette, having given up on the particular fag, “I’m Zayn.”

Niall nods appreciatively, “You’re from England.”

Zayn smiles, “You’re from Ireland.”

“Are you enjoying the sunshine?”

“It’s my favourite part.” Niall smiles at that and Zayn is not completely sure why. He doesn’t question it though, because the blonde told him to stop asking questions, and even though he hadn’t been referring to this, it still feels like the same thing.

A few minutes of silence ensues before Zayn says, “Define adventure.”

Niall looks up at the sky and then back down to his feet. “Anything new is an adventure...finding some place unfamiliar...taking an off-track path to get there...getting to know a stranger along the way.”

“And here I thought we were looking for treasure,” Zayn says quietly, thinking about pirates and whatnot.

Niall smiles, “Maybe we’ll find some.”

+

Zayn and Niall don’t make it to the top of the cliff on their first try. As it turns out, the rocky mound is much further away than either of them thought, as well as higher. They weren’t prepared, and nearly died of heat stroke and starvation before they even made it off the beach. Niall had collapsed in the sand, Zayn falling next to him, both breathing heavily and looking over at each other in a mixture of blue and hazel. Deciding the adventure was hopeless; they turned back and ate half of Zayn’s refrigerator instead.

They don’t give up just like that though. For several days, Niall finds Zayn somewhere on the beach and they discuss and plot the most efficient way to make it to the top of the cliff without dying. Niall insists he bring his backpack which, really, would have been common sense to begin with. Zayn says he’ll smuggle some food from his cupboards and they’ll be set for the day.

During this time, Zayn learns Niall. The raven-haired boy never thought one could learn a person—people are just a collection of thoughts and cells, after all—but after a week, he comes to realize that he’s been thinking about this the wrong way. People have unique laughs and smiles and pouts, and these things are beautiful when you take a step back to look at them. Niall has these things, and Zayn has taken an interest in learning every one of them. He wonders if Niall feels the same way, and decides that he does because the blonde is full of questions that make Zayn blush.

It’s early when Niall arrives at Zayn’s door and, this time, when he answers, he smiles. He’s come to admire his new friend the way he admires the sun...both are bright and uncommon for him, and he thinks maybe Niall can compare with—or perhaps even outshine—the star’s magnificence. He thinks Niall is the most interesting person he has ever had the chance to go on an adventure with...and he’s not sure what that means, exactly.

All he knows is that Niall holds his hand as he drags him down the sunny beach, and that his fingers have calluses at the end that he might like the feel of. “We’re going to make it today, Zayn,” he says determinedly, “I can feel it. I can smell it.”

“You can smell it?” Zayn laughs.

Niall nods and gains a better grip on the older lad’s hand, “Yes.”

Halfway up the rocky cliff—which consists of more trees and dirt than they were expecting, taking away some of the glamour—Zayn is absolutely exhausted and comes to a wheezing halt. Hands rested on his knees, head hanging towards the ground, he mutters, “It’s bloody hot out here.”

Niall laughs softly, but decides Zayn is right and ultimately seats himself on the grassy ground. “Join me then, aye?”

Zayn blushes lightly and tries to figure out exactly why his face always flushes red when he’s around Niall. It’s silly, isn’t it? But then he’s sitting down and Niall is wrapping an arm around his waist, pulling himself closer to him. Despite the heat, Zayn is glad for the proximity, and settles against the younger lad’s side comfortably.

“You know,” Niall wonders aloud, leaning his head against Zayn’s shoulder, “This has already been a rather grand adventure...if we turned back now, I don’t think it’d be a disappointment.”

Zayn looks at his friend peculiarly, wondering if this is some type of trick question. He considers the idea of turning back...they would get home for dinner and perhaps Niall could join him and his family...maybe afterwards they could sit out on the cold, evening sand and stare up at the cliff, thinking about how far they made it. Ultimately, the raven-haired boy decides that it would be completely ridiculous to do such a thing. There’s something waiting for them at the top of that cliff, and he needed to get to it. Niall and Zayn needed to get to it together; it was imperative, even if Zayn had no idea why.

Just like that, they were up again. Niall gave him a special smile that lit up his entire face like a Christmas tree, and all he could do was smile back. Zayn had heard about ‘contagious’ smiles before, but had never truly experienced one until now. It was contagious, in fact, like a yawn that circles around an entire group of people.

So they walk and walk, and walk some more until their feet are sore and they’re covered in mutual sheens of sweat. The sun is hot and burning their skin, but they gladly soak it up, because they’re from the land of the rain and the giant ball in the sky is a magnificent thing. 

Neither of them is expecting it when Zayn pushes past a clump of shrubs: they finally made it. It’s not as glorious of an image of the two of them as they had imagined, but the view does not disappoint. The ocean, which Zayn still refuses to name, stretches as far as the eye can see; a blue horizon that can almost challenge the blue of Niall’s eyes, but not quite. Zayn figures the water goes on forever; it must, for what else could possibly be out there? Zayn and Niall have conquered the world and there’s nothing more important than this exact moment in time.

Niall offers Zayn a smile; one that lights up his features brighter than the older boy has ever seen; brighter than the moon...brighter than the sun. And it amazes Zayn—stuns him, really, to the point of speechlessness. All he can do is look and stare because cheeks pinker than the evening sky and eyes bluer than the ocean are things that deserve to be marvelled at.

Niall is looking back, staring as shamelessly as he had that first day on the beach. He’s still smiling, because he’s always smiling, and Zayn wonders how someone as marvellous as the sun chose someone as dull as the moon to take on an adventure. It hardly seems fair that perfection was forced the shorter straw, but Niall doesn’t seem to look at it the same way.

“We made it,” the blonde says, attempting to look at the infinite water but finding more beauty in those hazel eyes.

“Yeah,” Zayn breathes, staring and waiting, staring and waiting. He’s not sure what he’s waiting for, only that it’s been waiting here on the top of his cliff.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Zayn,” Niall says after a long couple of minutes, speaking matter-of-factly.

“Y-you have?” Zayn asks, silently cursing himself for constantly stuttering and blushing around the pretty boy.

Niall laughs, “Course I have. I knew I had to talk to you the first day I saw you on the beach.”

“Huh,” is all the older boy can manage to say; he’s too stunned by the idea of Niall actually wanting him to form an appropriate reaction. The blonde laughs and Zayn is pretty sure that even that sounds Irish.

“’Huh’? Is that all, Zayn?” Niall asks with a small smile, stepping closer to the tan-skinned boy. “I’ve noticed you staring all this time, just so you know.” Zayn immediately flushes red, his skin about a thousand degrees hotter beneath the callused fingers that have found his waist. Another fluttery laugh escapes the blonde’s pink lips. “You’re pretty when you blush like that...but there’s no need...I don’t mind the staring, I just wish you wouldn’t look away when I catch you.”

Zayn clears his throat but it’s hard to speak or concentrate, for that matter, when Niall is touching him. “I...”

The blonde laughs—again—and this time around Zayn is absolutely sure that it sounds Irish and that he could never get sick of the sound. He’s thinking about Niall’s eyes again, and he figures it isn’t even something he should mention because he’s constantly thinking about Niall’s eyes. Blue is one endless thought, overlaying all of the others; blue and sunshine. The younger lad is slightly quicker than he is though, and he catches the look in the blue a second after pink lips are pressed against his.

Niall is kissing him. Niall is kissing him and pretty soon Zayn is kissing him back, moving his lips around the blonde’s bright pink equivalence. The world spins around the two of them; a kaleidoscope of yellow, blue, and puffy white clouds. The colours blend together until the universe is nothing but swirls of hues; something that is no longer concrete or real. All Zayn can feel is Niall, and the way his tongue prods into his mouth, licking over his teeth and swirling around his tongue. Fingertips find their way beneath his shirt, running along his clammy skin in brilliant strokes of heat and utter splendour. Nothing else matters. Zayn is sure that there’s nothing else out there other than this cliff and this boy; only an infinity of nothingness that he has no desire to explore.

Niall is the first to pull away, and it’s only because he wants to see the raven-haired boy he’s just kissed. He grins at the sight and sets a less-than-gentle peck on his forehead. Zayn smiles as the younger lad takes his hand and walks him precariously close to the edge. The rocks beneath his toes give way and topple down into the crystal blue water, disappearing beneath the waves.

“Now it’s time to jump.”

“Jump?” Zayn asks, mildly worried.

Niall laughs, “It’s part of the adventure...try new things...get to know a stranger.”

An adventure is not an adventure until the journey comes to an end. Immeasurable periods of time, scraped knees, stolen kisses, and the blinding shock of hitting warm water from a brief suspension in the air. Everything in-between makes the adventure an event; a journey through time and unknown territory. It’s not until the end, however, that the journey truly becomes an adventure, because the process is finally over and whatever wisdom was absorbed along the way is finally retained.

Zayn and Niall’s journey turns into an adventure the minute their bodies sink below that clear blue water. They fall and fall and fall until their muscles decide to keep them alive and their bodies resurface; laughing and smiling and hugging and kissing. Two bodies swim to shore; wet and being caked with sand the longer they lay there, staring at each other, until Niall mentions that he’s never been fucked on the beach. Zayn blushes again and it only makes the younger lad laugh because he’s being serious and he loves that red colour on the beautiful boy’s cheeks.

So Zayn kisses Niall who is quickly on top, straddling his waist on the sandy bank, grinning down at him in all his glory. It is in this moment that the raven-haired boy finally understands the sun. It truly is a magnificent ball of fire; the epitome of inevitability but also the centre of their universe. There may be infinite numbers of galaxies light-years away, but the sun is the centre of this universe and is responsible for more than floating around in the sky all day. It keeps things together, it keeps things alive, and it brightens everything that is beautiful.

The sun is the only thing that Zayn thinks can compete with Niall’s glory, but, in truth, it doesn’t really come close. Niall is magnificent, and Zayn likes the way he makes him warm; likes the way the younger lad settles into his skin and makes him feels things that the sun never can. People are not like planets or stars; people are a collection of beautiful differences that repel inevitability. There will be regret and heartache and love, because a life is not a life without living. People are not stars or planets and they are not arranged by a gravitational pull.

For once, with Niall smiling as he kisses up his neck, Zayn realizes that he is nothing like the moon; he is much brighter.


End file.
